Nonfiction and the Archaeology of Memory

In this generative workshop, we’ll use fragments of history—postcards, photographs, ticket stubs, songs—as triggering points for our own work. We’ll practice this “archaeology of memory” as we read and write together. Exercises will help us engage in the work and play of writing. We’ll use games and contemplative work to break free of habits that may be blocking us. We’ll write voraciously; we’ll read work aloud and listen for its music and logic. And we’ll read as writers, a practice that we’ll take with us into our writing lives long after our time together comes to an end. Friends, I am so excited to meet you and to work together in the community we’re going to create.

Formerly a park ranger, factory worker, and seller of cemetery plots, Joni Tevis is the author of two books of essays, including The World Is On Fire. Her work has been honored with two Pushcart Prizes and a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. She serves as the Bennette E. Geer Professor of English at Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina.